Improvement in rotary steasvl-emgines



n. D. HARDY. Rnfary Steam-Engines.

N0, 141,436, Patented August5, 1873.

wlTNsssEs: mvENq-OR; @Lw/4W Se?? uv ald f MW STATES PA'IET @Enron EXTER D. HARDY, OF DELAVAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO HENRY R. GREENE, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROTARV STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 141,436, dated August 5,1823; application filed January 15, 1873.

To all lwhom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, DEXTER D. HARDY, of Delavan, in the county of Tazewell and State of lllinois, have invented certain lImprovements in Rotary Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to an improvement in rotary engines; and consists in so arranging and constructing the several parts as to obtain a uniformity of Wear throughout the machine. First, in placing the exterior cylinder with-its bearings concentric with the same, the bearings being tubular journals. Second, an interior shaft having a drum near the center, said shaft being placed within the tubular journals referred to, and placed eccentrically thereto and confined within journal-boxes to retain it in its eccentric position to the exterior cylinder.

Figure lis a plan of a rotary engine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the dotted lines x, Fig. l 5 Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section on the dotted linesy y, Fig. l 5 Fig. 4, avertical longitudinal section on the dotted lines z z, Fig. l 5 Fig. 5, a perspective view of drum, shafts, the pistons or valves, and packing-ring 5 Fig. 6, a perspective view of drum with packing-ring removed5 and Fig. 7, a perspective view of packin g-ring.

A represents' the exterior cylinder, which is.

constructed as follows: Four equidistantradial slots, al a2 a3 a, terminating near the periph-- ery of the cylinder, said slots with shoulders or offsets on the interior of the cylinder; two tubular journals, B B, one at either side and connected to the cylinder-heads C O. Said tubular journals have bearings to support the same on the bed-plate D. E represents the interior shaft, and is made hollow at either end and divided by a transverse partition, e, through the drum F. (See Fig. 4.) The openings at either end communicate with cavities G H on either side of the partition. Each of said cavities have four ports, g and h, communicating with the space between the exterior of the drum and the interior of the cylinder A, said ports, at the will of the engineer, serving for either the supply or exhaust. Said drum has four planes, fj'ff, equidistant, and

' moving with the former. `the steam acts thus by its constant effect in upon which the pistons or valves 1112 13 I4 traverse. Said pistons or valves are placed in the slots al a2 a3 a4, and are kept in contact with the planes on the drum by rods it passing through the drum, in or through elongated openings jj sufficient for the movement of said pistons or valves on their respective planes. The rods referred to are made to fit the holes in the piston or valves snugly, and loose in thel elongated openings, said rods having nuts at one or either end for. the purpose of adjusting said pistons or valves `with reference to their contact-surfaces `on the drum. Said drum has a packing-ring, J, at one end ofthe same, constructed in the same manner as the drum in reference to its-periphery. The ring fits the shaft snugly and presses against one of the cylinderiheads by means of steam or the springs k la; or any elastic substance placed between isaid ring and said drum. Said ring has pieces Z Z attached, which lit into grooves o o at or near the'center of the planes on the drum, forthe purpose of breaking the joint, and preventing the steam from passing from the receiving to the exhaust side of the engine through the space thus created between the packing-ring and the drum. (Sec Figs. 6 and 7.) The steam-pipes leading to the shaft at either end are inserted in the-same, of a sufficient depth to admit of packing in the ordinary way, and said pipes secured to the bed-plate.

The operation of this rotary engine is as follows: The steam enters the shaft (at either end, optional with the engineer,) and passes into the cavity G5 thence through the ports g g into the space between the exterior of the drum and the interior of the cylinder A, exertingits force upon the pistons I3 and I2 simultaneously, carrying them before it, and consequently the exterior cylinder and the drum, the latter It will be seen that expanding to arrive at the largest part of the steam-space along the continually-opening curves of the steam-space until the ports h h are opened to exhaust. There are thus always two ports open to receive steam and two open to exhaust the same. The pistons or valves traverse on their respective planes on the drum in making the circuit. Each pair of pistons or valves bein g connected by the rods t 13 sliding in the elongated openings through the drum, keep them in close contact with the drum, and their contact-surfaces (with the planes of said drum) traversea space on said planes identical with the eccentricity of the exterior cylinder, opening` and closing the ports, and this contact of the pistons or valves With the planes v on the drum is the means by which the latter is rotated in unison with the exterior cylinder.

I claim as my invention- 1. The drum F having its shafts E E concentric thereto and placed eccentrically to the exterior cylinderA, and revolving in the same 

